gems 4.6 petrol overheating

hello,
Don't mean to moan but it seems i'm stuck w problem after pro.
The range has no coolant loss,no air in the system,coolant level on the cold mark.when the car is at idle with aircon switched on the temp gauge rises till the 1st mark above half then the 2 elec fans speed up then the gauge moves to 1 oclock position and stays there,the vc is engaged at the high speed and the gauge won't rise 2 red nor go down.when i switch off the ac the temp falls down 2 half and the elec fans turn off.i have blown air like rave says to the rad from engine side and still the same.i have noticed that the vc when moved in and out of the engine that there is a play in it or some sort of a gap (not water pump moving) the fan from the clutch like 2mms gap but it is engaging 2 high speed and howling.also i have noticed tht my heater doesn't blow hot air but i doubt that even if it is blocked tht it'll cause overheating.water circulation was tested and it is ok.the outside temperature was 41 celsius,was it coz of that?is it normal 4 p38 to have the temp at 1 o'clock?on severe hot weather?should i replace the thermostat even if it is working properly or just start w the vc fan replacement and c?
Please help.

anyone?

Hi..well, you say yourself coolant level is low..i'd drain it and refill with the correct mixture. As for the rest...if your heater isn't blowing warm i'd say you've either got a blocked system, dodgey thermostat or buggered heater..hard to say from 2000 miles away.

storm99 said:

Hi..well, you say yourself coolant level is low..i'd drain it and refill with the correct mixture. As for the rest...if your heater isn't blowing warm i'd say you've either got a blocked system, dodgey thermostat or buggered heater..hard to say from 2000 miles away.

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I meant 2 say cold level,i've edited it.so new thoughts?

tested the car tonight at idle outside temp was 26 celsius with the aircon on and at low in the hevac lcd,kept it like that for 10 min temp gauge stuck in the middle and the vc fan was howling (engaged).so it seems it is normal for p38 to have temp at 1 o'clock if outside temp is in the 40 ies? my concern is: running the truck with the gauge at 1 oclock does it do any harm or damage to the engine? does it blow head gaskets or slip the liners?
thank you

Any 'Book' symbol on your Hevac display? Usual causes of cold heaters are either a blockage in the heater matrix or more usually an air lock. If you have a book symbol, it could be your blend motors failed / stuck. Try cycling them from max / min / max a few times.
Your guage at 1 o'clock could be normal for there - we rarely get 31 never mind 41 in the UK and 21 is more of an average in summer.
Thermostats are cheap items. Change it.

Derek Ward said:

Any 'Book' symbol on your Hevac display? Usual causes of cold heaters are either a blockage in the heater matrix or more usually an air lock. If you have a book symbol, it could be your blend motors failed / stuck. Try cycling them from max / min / max a few times.
Your guage at 1 o'clock could be normal for there - we rarely get 31 never mind 41 in the UK and 21 is more of an average in summer.
Thermostats are cheap items. Change it.

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thanks alot,i will change the thermostat,no book symbols on hevac,air has been bled from the system,i removed the bleed pipe from the rad at idle and at the same time poured slowly water from the garden hose inside the expansion tank keeping it balanced untill water coming from rad stoped popping air,doesn't that remove the air from the heater matrix?

thanks alot,i will change the thermostat,no book symbols on hevac,air has been bled from the system,i removed the bleed pipe from the rad at idle and at the same time poured slowly water from the garden hose inside the expansion tank keeping it balanced untill water coming from rad stoped popping air,doesn't that remove the air from the heater matrix?

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Should do. Don't forget to put antifreeze / corrosion inhibitor in at some stage though or you will have a knackered engine.
I don't think running it at 1 o'clock will do any damage providing it doesn't get any hotter than that i.e. nowhere near the red. We just get paranoid in the UK if it goes over half way because we're just not used to ambient temperatures that you have. Obviously though, the cooler (nearer the middle) you have it running, the better.

Derek Ward said:

Should do. Don't forget to put antifreeze / corrosion inhibitor in at some stage though or you will have a knackered engine.
I don't think running it at 1 o'clock will do any damage providing it doesn't get any hotter than that i.e. nowhere near the red. We just get paranoid in the UK if it goes over half way because we're just not used to ambient temperatures that you have. Obviously though, the cooler (nearer the middle) you have it running, the better.

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i will put antifreeze as soon as i finish checking that the cooling sys is working properly,for sure i will replace the thermostat i want 2 look if i can find one that opens at a temperature near 75 celsius,don't know tho if they made such thermostats for p38.
anyway thanks alot my friend.regards from the good people of lebanon thousands of miles apart.
cheers

Cheers and good luck. Good idea about the thermostat as well.

Also to remember the 50/50 coolant and softened water will raise the boiling point anyhoo,,,so if you had the correct mix in, change your stat, take if from there.......